Happy New Year! Hope 2016 is a great year for you all!
When the immortal army of Escetia suddenly expired en masse, bringing the battle to a grinding halt, Balinor wasted no time in regrouping his forces and putting them to work gathering the bodies of the fallen; those who had fought on their side would be taken back to the citadel for an honorable burial, while the Escetians would be left on the battlefield for the dragons to feast on. Once they were organized, Balinor made his way across the battlefield to see what the knights of Camelot were doing. Their hotheaded king had abruptly run off at the same time the enemy fell, and they had all followed him like a pack of lemmings racing for a cliff, and now they were standing around, seemingly in shock - all except Prince Arthur, who nearly collided with Balinor as he approached, shouting that he needed Gaius. Balinor pulled the closest soldier out of a group that had drifted their way while carrying out their grim duty and sent him to fetch the physician.
"What's happened? Are you hurt?"
"Not me," Arthur panted, "my father. He's bleeding and unconscious and…" He stopped himself there, not wanting to say he wasn't completely sure Uther was still alive. The idea that his father could die now, when Arthur's last words to him had been condemnation for his affair with Vivienne and his lies about Morgause and there was so much still unresolved between them, was unbearable.
"Well, let's take a look." Balinor shoved past a few knights, who didn't seem to have the presence of mind to step aside for the king until Arthur barked at them to move. Then they shuffled aside, clearing a path to where Leon knelt beside the fallen king of Camelot, trying to stanch the bleeding with his bare hands and cursing the fact that knights didn't wear their capes into battle. Balinor pushed him aside and pressed his fingers to Uther's neck, detecting a faint pulse. "He's still alive; only a physician can tell us more than that. What happened to him? And why do all these men-" He gestured at the knights of Camelot surrounding them "-look like they've seen a wraith?"
"My father… Father was attacked…" Arthur swallowed hard. "…With magic. I think he wanted to finish off Morgause himself…"
"That was brave; from what I've heard of that sorceress, not many would have dared to challenge her alone. It looks like your father paid dearly for his courage."
"It wasn't Morgause who did this to him," Arthur said reluctantly. "Merlin and Morgana-"
"They were here?" Balinor asked sharply. "Where are they now?"
"I'm not sure. All I know is that Merlin had been hurt - don't worry, it didn't look serious - and after the fighting ended he used a spell to transport himself and Morgana somewhere else." To his relief, Balinor was distracted by that piece of information and never asked who had wounded Uther; Arthur wasn't anywhere near ready to discuss Morgana's magic. In fact, he didn't want to think about it at all, because it was simply too mind-boggling, so he tried to put it out of his head and focus on more immediate problems.
Gaius arrived, huffing and puffing from exertion, and determined that Uther had probably suffered a skull fracture. Under his supervision, the king was carefully lifted onto a board and carried into the castle amid frequent admonitions to keep his head and spine immobilized. In the laboratory, Gaius and Alice conducted a thorough examination and concluded that in addition to a cracked skull, Uther was hemorrhaging internally.
"What does that mean?" Arthur snapped impatiently. "How long until he wakes up?"
The physicians exchanged looks, and Alice bustled off to do some busywork so Gaius could have a moment alone with the prince. "I'm afraid you don't understand, sire," the old man said gently but gravely. "I can stitch the king's scalp, and with sufficient rest and time the cracks in his skull might mend, as bones do, but the bleeding inside his head is causing damage to his brain that is beyond my ability to heal. I regret to tell you that your father is not going to wake up, sire. Truthfully, I doubt he will live to see the sun rise."
"No. No!" Arthur spun away from Gaius and pounded his fist into the wall. "Damn it, Gaius, I can't lose him now! The last time we spoke was when I had him removed from the council meeting, and I can't…I can't… There must be something you can do!" He stalked back to the physician and lowered his voice. "Some magical remedy, maybe? If Father were conscious, I'm sure he wouldn't want his life saved with sorcery, but he never has to know. Please."
Gaius' eyebrows rose to new heights - he hadn't known 'please' was in Arthur's vocabulary. Sadly, he couldn't grant the first polite request the prince had ever made of him. "I'm sorry, sire, but as I said before, this wound is beyond my skills - all of my skills. There is only one person who might have the power to restore Uther to health."
"Merlin. Guess I'd better go get him then."
###
Arthur set off at such a brisk pace that he was almost running, yet he found his feet slowing down seemingly of their own accord as he got closer to his friend's chambers. It wasn't that he had any misgivings about asking Merlin to heal his father, it was that she was probably with him. Arthur didn't know what he was going to do when he came face to face with her.
Before he reached his destination and had to find out, he met Gwen in the corridors. "Guinevere," he called out, welcoming the excuse to drag out his walk just a little longer. "Where are you headed?"
"I'm on my way to see Morgana. I've just been in my room, cleaning up, and there are some absolutely ridiculous rumors about her flying around the knights' wing, so I'm going to make sure she's okay. The things people are saying…"
The bottom seemed to drop out of Arthur's stomach. "The rumors…are true, I'm afraid."
"Honestly, Arthur, you really expect me to believe Morgana tried to assassinate Uther?"
"But she did. His brain is bleeding, and she did that to him, Guinevere. I was there, I saw the whole thing happen, I saw her do it! She has magic."
"She would never use it that way."
"Wait." Arthur came to a stumbling halt, grabbing the wall - and Gwen - for support. "You aren't surprised that I just said Morgana used magic? You…you knew?"
"I've known since Morgause kidnapped us and she had to share her secret with me in the course of our escape, but she wasn't ready for anyone else to know - except Merlin, I assume."
"Oh, she trusted you and Merlin but not me, is that it?"
"If you truly thought for one second that she purposefully tried to murder your father, I'd say she has good reason not to trust you," Gwen said sharply. "If you would use your head, you'd know the only person she meant to attack was Morgause, and Uther was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Well, her back was toward him, so I can believe she didn't know he was there. Still, she almost killed him, deliberate or not, and she would've done the same to anyone else who'd had the bad luck to be standing there. I mean, when Edwin Muirden tried to murder her, and Merlin finished him off, it was gruesome but at least Merlin was able to focus his magic so that he only hurt his intended target. Morgana didn't or couldn't do that; she might be dangerous. I just…don't know what I should do now."
Gwen gave an uncharacteristically impatient sigh. "You should do the right thing, Arthur Pendragon, and show some faith in your friend! At least talk to her and get her side of the story."
He quickly backed down in the face of her righteous indignation, which sounded a lot like his own conscience. "I suppose I can do that much." Knowing how protective Merlin was of Morgana, he suspected he would have to hear her out anyway, or Merlin might refuse to heal so much as a hangnail for him.
"Good. Now, let's get this mess sorted out." She practically dragged him the rest of the way to Merlin and Morgana's rooms and knocked forcefully on the door.
Merlin answered, his expression at seeing Arthur unreadable. "Yes?"
"Is Morgana in?" Gwen asked politely. "We'd like to talk to her, if that's all right."
"She says it is. Come in."
Morgana, hunched in a chair in the bedchamber's far corner, quickly straightened up as Gwen and Arthur approached. Whereas Merlin and Gwen had cleaned themselves up and changed into their regular clothes, she, like Arthur, was still wearing her armor along with the blood, sweat, and dirt of the battlefield, her hair was still in its (now very disheveled) braid, and she had obviously cried a lot, leaving her eyes glassy and red-rimmed. "How is Uther? Is he…?"
"He's still alive, although Gaius says he needs-"
Merlin, who was now leaning on the back of Morgana's chair, cut Arthur off. "Before we discuss what Uther needs, you owe my wife an apology."
"Merlin-" the sorceress in question spoke up, but for once he ignored her and continued staring daggers at Arthur.
"Even though it was unintentional, she feels terrible about hurting Uther; she needs her friends' support right now, and instead you avoided her like the plague-"
"I had to see to my father…" Arthur protested.
"And you did nothing when Leon called her a witch!"
"He did what?"
Now Gwen was glaring at him too, making Arthur shuffle uncomfortably. "Look, the whole thing just happened so fast I didn't know what to do; I could hardly believe that what had just happened was real even though I saw it with my own eyes, and honestly, I can't blame him for being frightened - I have to confess I was unnerved myself, and my attitude toward magic is completely different from what it would be if I'd spent the last three months in Camelot, listening to my father's misguided views, instead of here. I can try talking to Sir Leon, but…well…convincing him that Morgana isn't a danger to everyone around her will be almost impossible after tonight, especially if she does anything like that again. That isn't likely, is it?"
"Since she was reacting to Morgause trying to kill me, I certainly hope not," Merlin said dryly.
Arthur didn't reply; his eyes were locked on Morgana, willing her to look at him, to say something, to give some sign that there was still something of the girl he grew up with inside the terrifyingly powerful sorceress he'd seen on the battlefield and the silent, haunted-looking girl he saw now, both of whom were strangers to him.
Feeling his gaze boring into her, Morgana raised her head. "What do you want me to say, Arthur?" she asked in a voice ragged from weeping. "You already know possessing magic doesn't determine a person's character. If you're worried about my ability to control it, all I can tell you is that I was managing quite well until I was nearly forced to watch my husband die. I can't guarantee that another accident like tonight's will never happen since magic responds to its users' emotions, and you know I've always had trouble controlling mine, so the question is whether you can still trust me after seeing the worst I can do."
Arthur scanned the room as if hoping for an answer to appear out of the air, but none did. Merlin and Gwen were taking great care to keep their faces blank; he knew what they wanted him to do, but they weren't going to tell him to do it. Everyone he usually asked for advice - Uther, Gaius, the council - was absent, leaving him nowhere to turn for guidance…except his own heart and mind. In fact, he should probably listen to them more often; he was going to be king of Camelot one day, and when that happened, he couldn't rely on others to make decisions for him. The kingdom would need him to be a leader, not just by being the strongest fighter but also as a strong thinker who stayed true to his convictions no matter what anyone else thought about it. Starting tonight, Arthur Pendragon made up his own mind.
"I'll do my best. I don't care if Leon and all the other knights think I'm a lunatic, I won't abandon you after all the years we've been friends because of something you have no control over. And if you can't handle Merlin risking his neck, maybe you shouldn't leave me behind next time you decide to confront someone like Morgause on your own, and then he wouldn't be in so much danger. I am Camelot's best fighter after all."
Recognizing that he was trying to bring their relationship back onto familiar ground, Morgana purposefully rose to his bait. "Now you're Camelot's best fighter, since I no longer live there." She and Arthur didn't quite look at each other the same way as they traded verbal barbs, but they managed their customary mocking grins; for now, that was enough. Arthur might need time to adjust to her being a sorceress, but at least he didn't hate her.
"I still say you're exaggerating your skill, but we can argue over who's better with a sword another time. Right now, I really need Merlin's help." The atmosphere, which had lightened considerably with Morgana and Arthur's reconciliation, became tense again. Everyone could tell from his grave tone (and the fact that he thought his current business was more important than defending his superior swordfighting prowess) that this was serious. "My father's suffered severe damage to his brain, and Gaius says it'll take powerful magic to heal him; otherwise he'll be dead by morning." Arthur glanced anxiously out the window; maybe it was just his imagination, but he thought the eastern sky seemed lighter. "Can you do anything, Merlin?"
"Kilgharrah taught me a spell for healing brain injuries."
"Great! Come on." Merlin didn't move; he seemed to be fighting some internal battle. "Look, I know you don't think very highly of him-"
"Actually, I think Uther is a murderous tyrant who slaughters the people he's meant to protect because he's too blind to see past his stupid prejudices, and I think Camelot would be better off without him."
"Maybe so-"
"You'd be a much better king than he is," Gwen chipped in.
"The reason I kept my magic secret so long is because I feared what he would do to me if he learned of my gifts while I was still his ward," Morgana added. "Even though I've been part of his family for years, I knew I could expect no mercy from him."
"You're right, all of you. I know he's done terrible things…but he's still my father," Arthur said helplessly. "I still love him in spite of his sins, and I'm not ready to lose him. Please, if you care for me at all, save him - not for him, or for Camelot, for me."
Merlin sighed deeply before giving his reluctant assent; as much as he loathed the idea of being the reason Uther Pendragon lived another day, he couldn't refuse Arthur when the proud prince was literally pleading for his help. Recalling Morgana's deep dismay over having inadvertently hurt her former guardian made it a little easier, since he could tell himself he was doing it for her too. He refused her offer to go along for moral support - there was no need for her to endure being in the same room as Uther - and set off alone with Arthur.
They used smaller, less trafficked stairways and corridors to avoid people who might have stopped them with questions about how Uther fared, if Morgana had really tried to murder him, if she really had magic, and if Morgause was dead or alive - neither of them could answer the last one. This tactic got them down two floors without being bothered, but then their luck ran out; all the torches in the lonely stretch of hallway they were traversing suddenly extinguished, and a figure appeared, blocking their path.
Arthur instinctively reached for his sword, but Merlin grabbed his arm. "Relax, it's only Nimueh."
"Nimueh." Arthur glared at the sorceress who had seemingly disappeared as soon as the battle ended rather than staying to offer her assistance with the wounded. Also, he hadn't forgotten that she'd once called him an ox. "Where the hell have you been?"
"Don't bother asking - she never gives a straight answer unless you ask the right question."
"What's the right question?"
Merlin kept his eyes locked on Nimueh as he answered Arthur. "I suspect it's 'why is she here now?'"
"Very good, Merlin. You always were the sharp one, even though your wit isn't shown off to its best effect with only our present company for a counterpoint. I expect he could make a butter knife appear sharp."
"So you came to insult Arthur?"
Nimueh's sarcastic smile - which was much crueler than the one Morgana wore when she taunted Arthur - vanished. "No, I came to stop you from making a horrible mistake. Do not use your magic to revive Uther, Merlin. It is his time to die, so let him."
"Who decided it's his time?" Arthur demanded. "You?"
The High Priestess ignored him and continued speaking to Merlin. "The same night you came to me, asking for my help in teaching Morgana to harness her powers, I looked into the Crystal of Neahtid and saw that she was destined to be the instrument of Uther Pendragon's destruction. Now she has fulfilled her destiny, and it would be unwise for you to interfere with fate's design."
"People like you and Kilgharrah have lots of ideas about Morgana's destiny," Merlin retorted, "and you're always manipulating people to try and fit them into the dictates of your precious prophecies, although Kilgharrah at least managed to do it without hurting her. If Uther dies by her hand she'll feel terrible, not to mention that she'll never be welcome in Camelot again - the people would never forgive her for committing regicide. I have to save him for her sake; besides, I gave Arthur my word."
"Please, Merlin. People much wiser than I once advised me not to use magic to help Uther Pendragon; I failed to heed their advice, and I have been plagued by sorrow and guilt ever since. I beg you not to make the same mistake I did."
Merlin was very curious about what kind of magical favor Nimueh had done for Uther, but before he could pursue the matter further, Arthur forcefully reminded him that they were running out of time. "I know, I know… I'm sorry, Nimueh, I have to do this."
He expected her to be enraged, but the look she gave him was more sad than anything. "Well, I suppose you must do what you think is right. Be warned, though - the evil that will follow is your doing, and yours alone." The torches flared back to life, momentarily blinding Merlin and Arthur; when their vision cleared, Nimueh was gone.
I meant to have Uther's healing in this chapter, but then Nimueh popped up… Never fear, though, I think I'm still on track to finish this in two more chapters.